Stakeholder Entities Research Articles

A multi-timescale energy scheduling model for microgrid embedded with differentiated electric vehicle charging management strategies

This paper presents a novelty energy management model embedded with differentiated charging management strategies for optimal scheduling of the microgrid (MG), including electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy sources (RES) in similar official buildings and industrial parks. The study firstly synthetically considers the objectives of multiple stakeholder entities in the MG and various uncertainties and employs a multi-timescale energy schedule model to satisfy each entity’s different objective and optimize the power procurement strategy. In the day-ahead stage, an enhanced variant multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm (EVMOPSO) is used to solve the multi-objective equilibrium optimization model, while in the real-time stage, a rolling correction model based on model predictive control (MPC) is introduced. Secondly, considering the significant diversity of driving behaviors of the EV users unique to the MG above, this study presents a set of differentiated charging management strategies for the first time in the multi-timescale energy management model. These strategies are based on credibility, which assigns different credibility levels to users by evaluating the degree of regularity of their driving behaviors to assign corresponding charging and price strategies. Simulation results verify the method’s practicality and validity, and the model’s robustness is also verified by sensitivity analysis.

SGAM-Based Analysis for the Capacity Optimization of Smart Grids Utilizing e-Mobility: The Use Case of Booking a Charge Session

The description of the functionality of a smart grid’s architectural concept, analyzing different Smart Grid (SG) scenarios without disrupting the smooth operation of the individual processes, is a major challenge. The field of smart energy grids has been increasing in complexity since there are many stakeholder entities with diverse roles. Electric Vehicles (EVs) can transform the stress on the energy grid into an opportunity to act as a flexible asset. Smart charging through an external control system can have benefits for the energy sector, both in grid management and environmental terms. A suitable model for analyzing and visualizing smart grid use cases in a technology-neutral manner is required. This paper presents a flexible architecture for the potential implementation of electromobility as a distributed storage asset for the grid’s capacity optimization by applying the Use Case and Smart Grid Architecture Model (SGAM) methodologies. The use case scenario of booking a charge session through a mobile application, as part of the TwinERGY Horizon 2020 project, is deployed to structure the SGAM framework layers and investigate the applicability of the SGAM framework in the integration of electromobility as a distributed storage asset into electricity grids with the objective of enhanced flexibility and decarbonization.

Socio-ecological conflicts and (cosmo)political reconfigurations in the Peruvian Amazonia: the case of the Wampis Nation

ABSTRACT This paper, which draws on research carried out in collaboration with the first indigenous government to be officially constituted in the Peruvian Amazonia, the Gobierno Territorial Autónomo de la Nación Wampís (GTANW), describes the governance structure and territorial policies of this new political actor. Research activities conducted between June and August 2017 included fourteen interviews with Wampis political leaders and GTANW activists, three discussion groups organized and co-animated by the participants and the participant observation of a variety of activities related to the democratic life and territorial governance of the Wampis Nation. In the context of an explosion of social conflictuality caused by the expansion of extractive industries in Wampis territory, the GTANW puts into practice a vision of indigenous political and territorial self-determination that revendicates Wampis cosmopraxis, ancestral knowledge and traditional institutions of political leadership. Through a participatory democracy based on consensus building, Wampis political leaders and GTANW activists seek to establish an economic development model compatible with their worldview. Results suggest that, in the Peruvian Amazonian context, socio-ecological conflicts are rooted in different ontological understandings of the territory that is being disputed and of the stakeholder entities involved in the conflict, and therefore do not occur in a unified system of signs and cosmovisions shared by all the conflict stakeholders. The newly formed indigenous government’s intent is to create spaces for political dialogue in epistemic equality by translating their cosmovisions into terms that are negotiable to the State and other institutions.

Implementation framework to facilitate digitalization of construction-phase information management by project owners

The use of software applications which have been developed for owner management of large public capital-intensive projects lags that of similar applications made for contractors, resulting in negative implications for the productivity of the construction industry. In response, this paper provides a framework to facilitate the implementation of such digital construction-phase information management (DCIM) systems by project owners. This framework is developed by relating industry assessment of the potential positive impacts with factors that influence DCIM implementation in owner organizations (agencies). Specifically, the identified potential positive impacts were grouped into five improvement aspects and each group was related with a set of potential influencing factors. These were then related to the stakeholder entities that could control the relevant potential influencing factors. Two sets of primary data that were collected through a survey to industry experts were used in this research. The findings showed that 16 potential influencing factors significantly correlated to one or more improvement aspects. The findings further showed that five potential influencing factors are critical for maximizing one or more of the improvement aspects and thus overall system performance. This study shows that plans of technology implementation, selection of software, continuous support (technical capabilities and human efforts), and implementation monitoring and evaluation represent the four main steps for DCIM systems implementation. The presented framework can serve as a practical guide for project owners, especially public agencies, for the successful implementation of DCIM systems and evaluation of the systems’ performance.

European approach to assess the fire performance of façades

SUMMARYSeveral attempts have been made in the past to develop a European harmonized testing and assessment method for façades before the European commission decided to publish a call for tender on the topic. A project consortium from five countries (Sweden, UK, France, Germany and Hungary) applied to the call for tender and was contracted to develop a European approach to assess the fire performance of façades. 24 sub‐contractors and 14 stakeholder entities were part of the project. The objective of the European project was to address a request from the Standing Committee of Construction (SCC) to provide EC Member States regulators with a means to regulate the fire performance of façade systems based on a European approach agreed by SCC. The initial stages of this project were focused on establishing a register of the regulatory requirements in all Member States in relation to the fire performance of façade systems, and to identify those Member States who have regulatory requirements for the fire performance façade systems which go beyond the current EN 13501 (reaction to fire and fire resistance) classification systems and to collate the details of these additional requirements. After having confirmed the regulatory needs a testing and classification methodology based on BS 8414 and DIN 4102‐20 was developed to address the identified key performance and classification characteristics. This paper is a short overview of results the two‐year development work, which Final Report published by the European Commission in 2018.

A Fuzzy-based Decision-Support System for the Analysis of Suitability of Megaproject Delivery Methods

This article describes the Decision Support System (DSS) for identifying the best delivery methods for megaprojects, based on risk factors, opportunities for investments, and project constraints. In addition, the system accounts for the relative importance of various stakeholders’ roles at different stages of a mega infrastructure project. A fuzzy-based multi-criterion decision-making technique used to develop the DSS assists the client to depict his/her best choices of contractual delivery methods. Further, the system provides the best mix of stakeholder entities that would likely provide the best environment for the project success. A two-step system calibration procedure was considered, including the expert judgment of 192 key stakeholder professionals worldwide. The fuzzy model performance was illustrated using default factor sets and sample inputs of differing weights for project risks, constraints, opportunities and the other critical categories affecting the decision-making process. Based on model results, the conventional delivery method (e.g., Design Bid Build) is least recommended if the project risk weighs more than 30%, as provided by the user. With such an intricate system, the client can investigate the specifics of various project stages and study the effects of enhancements or deficiencies of the stakeholder entities’ capabilities.

Expanding Medicaid Access without Expanding Medicaid: Why Did Some Nonexpansion States Continue the Primary Care Fee Bump?

Six states that have rejected the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's (ACA) Medicaid expansion nonetheless extended the primary care "fee bump," by which the federal government increased Medicaid fees for primary care services up to 100 percent of Medicare fees during 2013-14. We conducted semistructured interviews with leaders in five of these states, as well as in three comparison states, to examine why they would continue a provision of the ACA that moderately expands access at significant state expense while rejecting the expansion and its large federal match, focusing on relevant economic, political, and procedural factors. We found that fee bump extension proposals were more successful where they were dissociated from major national policy debates, actionable with the input of relatively few stakeholder entities, and well aligned with preexisting policy-making structures and decision trends. Republican proposals to cap or reduce federal funding for Medicaid, if enacted, would compel states to contain program costs. In this context, states' established decision-making processes for updating Medicaid fee schedules, which we elucidate in this study, may shape the future of the Medicaid program.

Understanding the Role of Government and Buyers in Supplier Energy Efficiency Initiatives

In environmental management, companies must respond to myriad needs and pressures from stakeholders such as buyers, regulators, communities, and NGOs. While researchers recognize that these stakeholder entities have different saliency and influences over a focal firm, the influences from multiple stakeholders are often aggregated as a single factor, overlooking differences among them. Stakeholders may have competing demands: A buyer may consider only potential environment‐cost trade‐offs, while the government balances the environment, increased cost‐competitive manufacturing and job creation. Such demands compete for the same resources within the supplier's organization, forcing suppliers to satisfice and compromise. This study qualitatively examines Chinese suppliers' responses to requests to adopt energy efficiency (EE) initiatives in their production plants by two of their most critical stakeholders: buyers and the government. We identify three categories of EE initiatives implemented by the suppliers and find that their implementations are contingent on their ownership characteristics and value alignment with these two stakeholders. Further, we find that suppliers interpret buyers' motives regarding EE in the context of buyer–supplier relationships and environmental positioning of the buyers' products. These findings are articulated in a set of propositions that are introduced based on our analysis of these case study data.

Using the sustainability footprint model to assess development impacts of transportation systems

A review of the sustainability literature reveals the lack of viable frameworks and management tools that can be used to accommodate both spatial and temporal variability in how stakeholder entities meet their sustainable development goals, taking into account the fact that different entities may need to pursue different priorities and also deal with different constraints and schedules at different stages of their development. This paper presents a sustainability footprint framework and model that may be used in analyzing the impacts of transportation and other infrastructure systems on regional sustainable development. A specific application of the framework is in the quality of life contributions that transportation systems may make to communities as a function of their impacts on natural assets that contribute inputs and absorb the byproducts of development. The application is illustrated in a case study that uses data from the Atlanta and Chicago Metropolitan Areas to demonstrate how this model may be applied in real life situations. The implications of this model for transport systems research, policy and practice are discussed. The value of this framework and model lie in introducing both spatial and temporal flexibility that may enable stakeholders with widely different priorities to reach consensus on interim goals for sustainable development to ultimately attain sustainability.

Archetypal Social Systems Analysis: On the Deeper Structure of Human Systems

This paper extends the concept and method of stakeholder analysis, showing that the deeper symbolic aspects of human systems can be understood in terms of a special set of stakeholder entities known as archetypes. Archetypes are the most basic symbolic images that the human mind is capable of having and of experiencing. Archetypes and their associated properties are radically different from the kinds of stakeholders that are discussed in the typical analyses of social systems.